Collapsible display bin



United States Patent 3,494,498 COLLAPSIBLE DISPLAY BIN Alfred A.Atherton, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor of onetliird each to John B.Overall and John A. Privett, both of Los Angeles, Calif.

Filed Oct. 24, 1967, Ser. No. 677,592 Int. Cl. B65d 3/24, 5/48, 25/04US. Cl. 217--33 I 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The collapsibledisplay bin comprises a plurality of relative thin panels or partitionmembers including longitudinal panels and transverse panels thatinterconnect the longitudinal panels, one panel at each juncture of alongitudinal panel and a transverse panel being formed with a transverseslot, the other of the two panels being formed with an end tongue toextend through the slot. The two side edges of the tongue arerespectively formed with notches to engage said one panel at theopposite ends of the slot, the slot being crescent-shaped to permit thetongue to be bowed sufficiently to enter the slot in the course ofassembly of the display bin.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In stores where refrigerated products aredisplayed in open top compartments for the convenience of purchasers, itis advantageous to provide partition assemblies to subdivide suchcompartments, the partition assemblies being commonly termed displaybins. Preferably, the display bins are in the form of collapsible panelassemblies that may be shipped or handled in fiat or folded state.

Display bins not only serve to segregate different products in thecompartment, but also make it possible to stack cans and cartons withthe stacks confined to keep the stacks from being inadevertentlytoppled. The partition assembly may also be decorated for greaterattractiveness and, in addition, may serve as means for conspicuousdisplay of a brand name.

It is apparent that there is need for collapsible display bins that areeconomical and structurally efiicient. Since display bins are primarilyused for food products, they should be sanitary to the extent of havingsmooth nonabsorbent surfaces and they should also have vent apertures toencourage air circulation. It is further desirable that a collapsibledisplay bin be easy to fabricate, easy to handle, and easy to install.Finally, a collapsible display bin should be of an articulatedconstruction that permits collapse into compact form without damagingstressing of the material of the panels in the regions of articulation.

The broad object of the present invention is to meet these variousrequirements.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The collapsible display bin of the presentinvention is an articulated partition or panel assembly in which thelongitudinal panels and the interconnecting transverse panels releasablyinterlock and may be assembled in a simple manner without the use of anykind of tools. The interlocking connections between panels permitssufficient articulation for the assembly to be folded flat withoutdamaging stress of the panel material. Economy, durability, andsanitation are served by making the panels out of a suitable plasticmaterial and for this purpose the panels may be molded or may be stampedout of smooth sheets. It is further desirable that suoh a panel assemblyhave numerous vent openings to provide free ventilation of the interiorof the assembly.

A feature of primary importance is the manner in which the panels areinterlocked. At each juncture of a longitudinal panel and a transversepanel, one of the two panels is formed with a transverse slot and theother panel is formed with a wide tongue at its end to extend into theslot. The opposite side edges of the end tongue are provided withnotches that straddle the thickness of the sheet material at the twoends with the slot and thereby positively interengage the two panels.

The slot that receives the end tongue is centrally widened andpreferably is crescent-shaped to permit the tongue to be bowedsufficiently to enter the slot and engage the opposite ends of the slot.Thus, with a notch on one side edge of the tongue engaged with one endof the slot, the sheet material of the tongue may be bowed sufficientlyfor the opposite side edge of the tongue to clear the other end of theslot. By virtue of this arrangement it is a simple matter to interlockthe panels of the assembly and subsequently to disengage the panels ifdesired.

A further feature of the invention is the concept of making the oppositeends of each slot of a width at least approximately twice the thicknessof the panel material, and of making the notches of the tongues also atleast approximately twice the thickness of the panel material. With theends of the slot and the notches of this minimum width, the panelassembly may be folded flat without flexing the panel material to adamaging extent or beyond the elastic limits of the material.

As heretofore stated, it is desirable to provide the panel assembly witha plurality of vent openings to encourage air circulation in theinterior of the assembly. A feature of the invention in this regard isthat the crescent-shaped slots serve additionally as vent openings,there being one such vent opening at each juncture of a longitudinalpanel with a transverse panel. In addition, smaller vent apertures areprovided elsewhere in the preferred embodiment of the invention.

The features and advantages of the invention may be understood from thefollowing detailed description and the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the drawing, which is to be regardedas merely illustrative:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the presently preferred embodiment ofthe invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the assembly at an intermediate stage inthe folding or collapsing of the assembly to flat state;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the panel assembly;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary section taken as indicated by the line 4-4 ofFIG. 1 showing how a tongue extends through a cooperating slot;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary section taken as indicated by the line 5-5 ofFIG. 4 showing how a tongue normally lies flat against the straight edgeof the cooperating crescent-shaped slot; and

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 showing how a tongue may be bowedagainst the curved side of the cooperating slot to permit the tongue topass into or out of the slot.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, thecollapsible display bin or panel assembly comprises two longitudinalside panels 10 and 12, two opposite transverse end panels 14 and 15, anintermediate transverse panel 16, and a pair of intermediate spacedshort longitudinal panels 18 and 20 that interconnect the two transversepanels 15 and 16. Thus, the panel assembly forms a relatively largecompartment 22 and three smaller compartments 24. As heretofore stated,the various panels are made of thin smooth flexible sheets of anysuitable plastic material.

At the juncture of each longitudinal panel and a cooperating transversepanel, one of the two panels is formed with a slot and the other panelat the juncture is formed with an end tongue that is inserted into theslot, the tongue having notches on its opposite sides to engage thesheet material at the opposite ends of the slot. In the constructionshown, each of the two longitudinal side panels 10 and 12 is providedwith three spaced transverse crescent-shaped slots 25 and the endtransverse panel 15 and the intermediate transverse panel 16 areprovided with pairs of the crescent-shaped slots.

The sceond of the two panels at each of the junctures is formed with atongue 26 at one end of the panel and the two opposite side edges of theend tongue are formed with notches 28, the notches being best shown inFIG. 4. It is important to note, as may be seen in FIG. 5, that each ofthe two opposite ends of each of the crescentshaped slots 25 is of awidth at least approximately twice the thickness of a tongue 26, the endof the slot having a straight edge perpendicular to the longitudinalaxis of the panel. It is further important to note, as may be seen inFIG. 4, that each of the notches 28 of a tongue 26 is at leastapproximately twice as wide as the thickness of the material of thecooperating panel.

As best shown in FIG. 4, each of the two notches 28 of a tongue 26straddles the thickness of the material of the cooperating panel and itis to be noted that the distance between the bottoms of the two notches28 is only slightly less than the length of a cooperating slot 25, theditference being less than the depth of a notch to insure positiveinterengagement of the two panels. FIGS. and 6 show the normalconfiguration of a tongue 26 with the tongue lying flat against thestraight edge 30 of the cooperating slot.

FIG. 6 shows how, with one of the notches 28 engaging one end of acooperating slot 25, the tongue 26 may be bowed against the curved edgeof the slot sufliciently for the second of the two notches to beretracted sufficiently for withdrawal from the slot. Thus, with a panelbowed to bow its tongue 26 in the manner shown in FIG. 6, the uppernotch 28 of the tongue clears the upper end of the slot 25 and the lowernotch in engagement with the lower end of the slot may serve as afulcrum for rocking movement of the tongued panel into or out ofengagement with the slot.

The relative dimensioning of the slots 25'and the tongues 26 to permitthe described releasable interlocking of the panels may be understood byreference to FIGS. 4, 5, and 6. In FIGS. 4 and 6 the length dimension ofthe slot is designated B. In FIG. 4 the distance from one side edge of atongue 26 to the bottom of the notch 28 at the other side edge of thetongue is designated A. It is apparent in FIG. 6 that the bowing of thetongue 26 against the curved wall of the slot 25, in effect, retractsthe dimension A to the dimension B to permit the tongue to pass into andout of the slot.

The various slots 25 not only serve the purpose of receiving thecooperating tongues 26, but also serve the purpose of providing ventapertures in the region of each of the junctures of two panels of theassembly to encourage air circulation inside the assembly. Thus, thewidening of each notch 25 not only permits a tongue to be bowed thereinsufliciently to pass into and out of the slot, but also provides a ventopening when the cooperating tongue is in its normal position againstthe straight edge of the slot as shown in FIG. 5. In the presentembodiment of the invention a number of additional relatively small ventapertures 32 are provided in the two longitudinal panels 10 and 12 butthese additional vent apertures may be omitted in view of the fact thatthe crescent-shaped slots permit air to flow freely into and out of theinterior of the assembly.

My description in specific detail of the presently preferred embodimentof the invention will suggest various changes, substitutions and otherdepartures from my disclosure.

I claim:

1. A display bin of the character described comprising:

a plurality of relatively thin flexible upright panels includinglongitudinal panels and transverse panels interconnecting thelongitudinal panels,

one panel at each juncture of a longitudinal panel and a traverse panelbeing formed with a vertical slot in which one side edge of the slot issubstantially straight and the opposite side edge of the slot is curved,and wherein each of said side edges extends the full vertical dimensionof the slot,

the other panel of the two panels at each juncture being formed with atongue at one end thereof with the tongue extending into the slot, thetwo opposite side edges of the end tongue being formed with notchesstraddling the thickness of said one panel at the opposite ends of thevertical slot,

the vertical dimension of the slot being substantially equal to thedistance between the bottoms of the two notches of the tongue, said slotbeing centrally widened between its straight and curved edgessufficiently to permit the tongue therein to be bowed until the distancebetween the bottom of one notch of the tongue and the opposite side edgeof the tongue is less than the length of the slot thereby to permit thebowed tongue to pass into the slot for interconnecting the two panels,and

said slot at each end having a width between the ends of the slot edgeswhich is at least approximately twice the thickness of said other panel.

2. A display bin as set forth in claim 1 in which the notches of thetongue have parallel sides with a notch width spacing at leastapproximately twice the thickness of said one panel.

3*. A display bin as set forth in claim 1 in which the width of thenotches of the tongue is at least approximately twice the thickness ofsaid one panel to facilitate collapsing of the bin by angular movementbetween the two panels at each of the junctures.

4. A display bin as set forth in claim 1 in which at least some of saidpanels have separate vent apertures in addition to said vertical slotsfor ventilating the interior of the display bin.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,346,025 4/1944 Guszmann 21731682,306 9/1901 Woolsey 21731 XR 1,498,785 6/1924 Coyle 217-33 1,754,5414/1930 Benoit 217-33 3,330,464 7/1967 Thyen 217-33 XR DAVIS T. MOORHEAD,Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 229-15

